The revised TOEFL Paper-delivered Test is offered in this location.
The list below shows testing regions, fees and dates as of February 15, 2019, but availability may change when you register. Fees are shown in US$ and are subject to change without notice.
| Region | Testing Format | Fee | Test Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damascus (Code: G204) | TOEFL Paper Testing | $180 $180 $180 $180 |
Sat., Oct 13, 2018 Sat., Nov 10, 2018 Sat., Feb 09, 2019 Sat., Apr 13, 2019 |
Syria Overview
Syria is a state on the eastern Mediterranean with the capital Damascus. The country is about half the size of Germany. Several mountain ranges rise behind a coastal strip. To the east stretches a steppe-like hill country, which flow through the Euphrates and Khabur. The Syrian Desert occupies the entire southeast. The climate is getting drier from west to east.
Most of the Syrians are Arabs. Kurds are the largest national minority. Almost 90% of the residents are Muslims, three quarters of them Sunnis. About 80% of the population live in the west of the country. The Syrian civil war turned a large part of the population into refugees.
Syria is a dictatorship headed by a president, Bashar al-Assad since 2000. When security forces put down protests against the Assad government in 2011, civil war broke out. The government is accused of serious human rights violations.
In ancient times, Lebanon and Palestine were also included in Syria. The area east of the Euphrates did not belong to it, but to Mesopotamia. Syria never formed a political unit, but was economically prosperous. Because long-distance trade routes from Asia, North Africa and Europe crossed there. Of the largest cities, Damascus, Aleppo and Hama are among the oldest in the Orient.
The extraction and processing of crude oil and natural gas are Syria’s economic mainstay. Food processing, the manufacture of fertilizers and the textile industry also play a major role. In agriculture, a third of the arable land is artificially irrigated. The civil war shattered the economy.
After the Islamic conquest in the 7th century AD, the first caliphate (caliph) was ruled from Damascus. It was there that the beginnings of Islamic culture developed. The country also became a center of Arabic literature. Today’s borders were set by the great European powers Great Britain and France during and after the First World War. In 1946 Syria became an independent state and a member of the Arab League. In the Middle East conflict , Syria is one of Israel’s main opponents.
Politics and law
Syria is a republic. At the top, with great powers, is the President, since 2000 Bashar al-Assad (* 1965). He is directly elected by the people for seven years; re-election is possible. The president has the supreme command of the army, appoints the government chaired by the prime minister and is allowed to dissolve parliament. The Arab nationalist Ba’ath Party has been in power since 1963.
In fact, Syria is a dictatorship. The Assad regime relies on officials from the Ba’ath Party as well as officials and business people who are close to the president’s family clan and who are Alawites. In addition, elite military troops, secret services and paramilitary groups secure Assad’s power. The crackdown on protests by security forces in 2011 fueled the Syrian civil war .
Only parties loyal to the regime are represented in the people’s assembly, the parliament. Its 250 MPs are elected every four years. Since a new constitution has been in force since 2012, Assad was allowed to run again in 2014. Presidential and parliamentary elections were only held in the area controlled by the government.
In terms of foreign policy, Syria is one of the main opponents of the State of Israel, against which it waged war in 1948, 1967 and 1973 (Middle East conflict). The most important point of contention between the two states is the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. From 1948 onwards, Syria took in around half a million Palestinians who fled or were displaced from Israel and the territories it occupied.
There are two legal traditions in Syria. Islamic law (Sharia) is traditionally used. It was pushed back in the modern Syrian state in favor of secular law (secular law), which originated when France administered Syria on behalf of the League of Nations.
The state school system consists of a six-year elementary school and a six-year secondary school. There are 20 universities.